Journey Home: JH in Scandinavia

good evening and welcome to the journey home my name is Marcus Grodi your host for this program and this is a special edition of the journey home it's a roundtable that's also a roundtable that were filming here in London cloister outside of Oslo Norway we've been here at the London cloister the Dominican nuns of Our Lady of the Annunciation filming journey home programs and other EWTN programs and this special edition of the round table we're going to focus on the importance of catechesis as well as the vocational call and I've invited to join us on this Roundtable some some new friends and thank you all three of you for joining we've got Cristina ding staad with us father radar Voight and fathers Sigurd Markuson thank all three of you what we normally do at home and the journey the home round tables is invite each guest to give a very short snippet of your spiritual journey to remind the audience because at least two of you we've already done a journey at home and father secured you we're gonna find out in a moment why we haven't had a journey home episode on youth particularly but thank you for joining us so Christina why don't we begin with you my father used to be a Lutheran priest so have this traditional Christian upbringing actually we went to church every Sunday and we read the Bible and we did our prayers every day but something was missing actually so 10 years ago I converted you to the Catholic Church and as I said you know it was really coming home actually what are you doing no I'm the information leader in the Diocese of Oslo okay so you actually do have a very direct connection to the topic we're looking at today so at catechesis teacher all right thank you far the radar yes I born 37 years ago right yes and I was baptized in the Lutheran Church which something that my grandmother didn't quite agree and started her journey home for me so assisted by the scent Elizabeth sisters I was brought up in the Catholic faith in the parish in tønsberg and I'm very very happy for that today and well I got my vacation back in the beginning of the 90s and studied for the priesthood and is now the parish pastor or the parish of Our Lady in post current about 150 kilometers south of oslo in a very small period well we are about 2,000 catholics and well the size is more or less than half of belgium at the parish size yeah that's amazing living it that's basically the size of most diocese in the United States well thank you Father writer and father Sir GERD yes well I'm the old spot I'm 41 years old and problem in a Catholic family I was but we always went to the church every Sunday said prayers at home and I really enjoyed the catechesis closest when I was a child my brothers found that very strange it happens that I've vocation and in lewd in to my military pilgrimage in 86 I refused to vacation at that time but I eventually was ordained in 96 and I'm not a pastor of Catholic parish in Ireland all soft of Norway softly in subscribe and we have about 1000 Catholics in a parish just about 900 1000 we ran a school primary school secondary school and also kindergarten is your parish similar to father radars in terms of size well yes mostly but in my parish most of the Catholics are sent to town by the sea so we don't have that much mountain Catholics in my parish the air is there but the Catholics are very few all right thank you all three of you that one of the most common things that I've heard when I've interviewed converts to the church both here in Norway as well as last week when we were in Sweden is that majority of the converts came from Lutheran isn't the state Church but it seemed in many ways that there catechesis had not been very strong and I'm wondering amongst the three of you talk a bit about your own personal experience of catechesis as a young person here in Norway my parents were really really Carrie you know to to give me a Christian upbringing actually so that's where I found you know my face actually from my parents yeah yeah but nowadays I mean the children they don't learn a lot at home anymore because the parents they don't know their faith so that's the problem you know about you in catechesis because they don't know you know the basic a priori stand the base basic Bible stories anymore yeah parents don't so they're it's hard for them to pass it on to their children but all that school when we went to school the premise school we were still singing Psalms every morning we said our Father every day today's banned from schools from the from state schools when did that happen soon well is slowly slowly just diminished yeah and so when the parent doesn't know their faith or they don't know anything about the church the school doesn't teach anymore you might be happy to find some surroundings that really pick up a faith Sonne that's the same in my case I don't my mother prayed for us children every evening my father was a seaman in those days we didn't see him very much he wasn't done at Madagascar sailing around but then also had a possibility to talk very much with my parish priest father first as I mentioned earlier and also we've got catechesis in our home by the st. Elizabeth sisters they came home and I enjoyed it very much to learn about the faith to study to understand to practice it for me it was a sort of a drill my brother didn't I didn't understand very much of it either but well then that's how it is but I think today the the most important thing is just what you mentioned that still in our days you could expected fate to be transferred from the parents to the children in the home today doesn't happen anymore but also this has something to do I think with the immigration don't forget that our church in Norway is to a large extent an immigration church and many parents coming from abroad maybe with a weak catechesis themselves find it quite impossible to transfer or to give catechesis to their own children in a foreign language and what they see is basically a neo-pagan society Norway is not a Christian nation anymore it's a neo-pagan did that happen because when we read the stories not just of Norway or Denmark but often in many of the countries in Europe when Christianity came to these countries it often came because the king converted now all had to be Christian or at the end of a sword it's one possible far back reason is it also because in Norway as in Sweden for example the Lutheran Church is the state Church so everyone's automatically a Lutheran and that could diminish the need for or is it also because as happened in the United States after the war into the 50s and 60s all of a sudden you have a generation that says I'm not going to force it on my children I'm and up to them to decide there's a little bit of all that here if you go 100 years back in history Norway everyone knew about catechism then you've got Bible didn't you all the hymns and psalms and they went to church so there was so and then it's totally I think after the war kind of urbanization and secularization and the big cities got more more secularized while in the small city small places you would still have strong catechesis and very high among people going to the church regularly and Sunday schools and so on but this organization has now been spreading so we are slowly secularized also quite much helped by the state and the church because the Stadion church now it doesn't work that much together and the church have left lots of things to the state and the state keeps all the region quite much of a tradition away from the from the schools in America because of our Constitution we have a separation of church and state and often that's misinterpreted and applied too strongly you know to again make sure that the Ten Commandments are listed anywhere because that would be a promotion of religion is that also true in Norway he's fading away you see this probably we are we are in a kind of slide we we went brought was brought up in a school system that still had a kind of catechesis in the school but ten years ago you will have a youth who didn't have that much catechesis anymore you really met teachers who were really Christians themselves and then you had this separation separating the re classes into christianity religion and ethics and philosophy and today we are to treat every subjects equal more or less the major metal-free is to be on the christianity but in a neutral factor so in the public schools is all neutral we achieve she's not allowed to say I believe but here he or she has to say the Christian believes the Muslim believes the juice believes that all the bottom line of this is that catechesis were religious education in any form has to be provided by the church itself you might say that in America you have a secular state but you have a very Christian Church here we have a quite lame state Church to put it that way the church is there but the church does everything for you you don't have to provide any anything yourself the initiative for the catechesis will not come from the state or through the state channels anymore we have to do it ourselves so basically what we have to learn is that if you want to church you have to do something for it to pray you know the last last Saturday and we have this catechesis and I have eight-year-old children and they're wonderful but I was trying to you know teach them about our Father and I was sure that they knew it is pray pray of course they're eight years old and you would from my heart when I was three or four but actually some of the children they didn't know it they have never heard about our Father and the Catholic children so actually we have to learn them you know the basic things and that's a big challenge but it's great fondness as well the biggest things for us as priests and also as the catechesis because we have this wide a variety of pupils we had those from various families you know I mean they know the math by heart from there were able to talk and then you are the ones that well math what is that I don't know don't know what the priest is either so our chance is to try to make those two groups together and give it a very good gives it to both that try to explain how it is and why I think that the major failure we have done in our church regarding the catechesis is that we have created for ourselves a sort of a dog that the responsibility of catechesis is the responsibility of the parents the parents are those who are to give catechesis to their children Israel even stated in a cannonball don't ask me why it's there but but anyhow the major point is that the responsibility for the catechesis of course is to responsibility of the parents as well but where they fail it is the responsibility of the parish of the Diocese of the church and our situation here in Norway it's pretty much like the one as the church once in the thousand years ago started to root in Norway we are in the same situation and what happened in those days the catechesis was given by the monks by the nuns by the bishops by two parishes and we have to in sense rediscover this responsibility it was interesting that I've been reading a book the sisters gave me by sigrid undset a history of the saints and the history of the church here in Norwoods fascinating book I highly recommend but I didn't notice she made the comment that two of the two early Olaf's that had the biggest impact that one of the distinction she makes is a one the first one you know use force to bring the different areas but he taught the faith kind of with the sword in his hand the second all of came in but he let the priests and the bishops communicate exactly and but also when we're eating this Christine Lavin started she learned to fade from her father but her father learnt it probably from a monk one generation back and of course at a time where you have parents who really know their fate they can transfer the dis fate to the parents or daughter to the children no problem but today we have parents we have adults who do they don't know if our father one thing is that other children who are eight years old no wonder but when you have a man age 40 or 50 going to church who don't in the he doesn't know how to pray we tried to start a new project couple years ago in my parish to invite all children from 0 to 15 16 years old for catechesis so we have this chemical group 0 to 3 years old well it's not much catechize as you can do it to them but if you invite them together I of course we have two white invited parents so we invited Perl with the children to get together in our kindergarten and they would have Bible sharing sings of Psalms and and draw make some Bible drawings and playing and so on have a mu also joined all the catechesis for for Mass and then we have catechesis for Good Shepherd catechesis for four to six years old so when they are starting the Catechism program from the second year of secondary school a seven years old they have what have been used to go to church the parents have been used to go to church the parents have been used to the prayers and they are all mixed together so they have some friends because that is also Chinese in Norway quite many of the young Catholic children they are the only the single Catholic in school or same Catholic in whole neighborhood at all so to make friends between them and to make them kind of socialized into Catholic surroundings we also draw the parents to get it because if we can make them friends too it's more easy for them to go to church and join for the church cover because then they will know someone you know in America we I'm not always comparing to America but most I'm most familiar with we have a thing called the feeder system whether it's soccer basketball you start them out young yeah right and they build teams and the camaraderie and teamwork so by the time they're in high school I mean they're already a team they're already skilled I mean that's what we need to do in the church that is what we are doing I mean I can't really compare my Paris with you and starting all this before they are born you know to socialize them but we start in the second grade in the the children's school and then we have ten years of catechesis at least an offer for it so that means that a Catholic boy or girl will is offered at least 200 hours with catechesis through these years and then we can send trips and everything comes together with that but what we see is that the children are coming and they are enjoying it and they get they are getting no with each other they are getting friends with each other and it's much more fun to go to church but because someone is expecting you then you have someone to to play with after church but then also of course that the what is required for the catechesis you can see tons of plans of what is needed but what is required life itself puts this up a young Catholic he or she needs to know her fate or his fate why do I believe what I believe how do we believe that it is and how do we practice this fate they have to be able to stand at our own feet and that means that there are the requirements for the catechesis they are fairly high but it's necessary because if not they will probably drop out Norway has be in that sometimes we have you know been talking a lot about you know the Catholic faith compared to the Lutheran faith of course because we're going telling you that the specific Catholic things you know the Saints the seven sacraments so about but the Cardinals and the Pope and as I told you in my join a home program actually I was having this group of with for confirmation and I thought I've been you know training them quite good actually and at the end of the year I asked them is there something you don't know much about now and then this young girl she said world Christina we don't know a lot about Jesus and that's really interesting isn't it that's because they were lacking this you know basic basic things and I met the call-up for you know teachers and increased as well because we have to give them you know this personal relationship with Jesus yeah to say it quite quite simple but but if they don't have that everything else is useless that really touches on fathers skirts struggled when you have in one class students with a complete range some don't even know Jesus and others probably could quote the seven sacraments you know I mean there you go how do you provide a program and but also in the line of what you're saying yeah that's what I've talked about earlier this year that all our confirmation class programs they Frieza poses in a sense that they are practicing Catholics but those teenagers attending our classes are necessarily not so you have to start with a different perspective more in the fundamental philosophy why is it a reasonable thing to believe in a God why is religion a reasonable thing and not just superstition which are the most popular widespread theories explaining everything and and how where does the Christian revelation come into this because they're inundated with the voices of media or exactly did this this will be a be to take these confirmation class students series and also to take their faith questions series so in a sense you have to add this and in in the first hours of these in addition we also have Travis in all those arise in no way we have lots of Polish people have approached families and very the youth group there have been drawn out from the familiar home context in Poland friends girlfriends boyfriends and so on and they come here to Norway forced into Norwegian school system and also forced into kind of practicing the Catholic faith in a Polish narration a variety and they are in against Paris from the forum and also in the church and we have for the Catechism for the government's now we have I 14 for the confirmation in the confirmation group now and half of the group is published is earlier there in them because they've been brought here a lot of those young people yeah so some of them are quite or we're electing this okay for them but quite many of them they say well no way is not a place this is nothing and the mother father doesn't speak to vision that well they struggle they might have been one of the brightest one at class oh not that bright in Poland but still they knew the language and now they come here and they are forced into new system making new friends and well there's so much happening in them and they are forced into the church forced to practice a faith that they really can't grow blast because they don't understand and that the in hostile area this easier because if we have lots of Polish priest and Polish masses but in this districts is quite quite to emigrate in Norway at all is quite difficult with our mother tongue I mean I can understand that people are getting depressed yeah part of the reason is because Norwegian speak such great English that I don't have to and what a lot about the youth and in the in the children what about those adults that don't know their faith in terms of catechesis it's got to be a challenge it's extremely difficult the course they are from so many nations just in my own parish as middle sized parish in Norway I have sent defiant various nationalities translations of the Sunday Mass is in six languages written - and translation and it still doesn't add up still I can have people coming complaining that it's no I don't find my own language no but that's because who speaks on sort of Eastern Chinese or I don't what it's it is difficult and the lacks in there catechesis might also very some have a very strong practice but no tearing some have a very strong teary but I have another practice team and then also the fact that many of these do have a very weak Norwegian or even Western language if they don't speak the Western language what do I do and so have nothing they don't even have practice or any theory but they feel homesick and then they go to church because they have that's kind of that's that's the certain category and yeah yeah and they they tried desperate to to feel something and that can help their homesick I was also wondering if many places around the world after the Vatican Council there went through a kind of a crisis in the way that the council was applied and that had a big upheaval and catechesis in many places around the world I don't think that because of the console itself because the way was applied was some of that happening here in Norway at all it has happened yes I am one of two priests celebrating the Tridentine mass in our diocese and I have had people that your age come in crying thanking me because finally 40 years in developer Bali of deadly shadows is over so I think that will probably with the years coming when this is less political tension around this you will find out that many left of church because what they appreciated was taken away from them very brutally today he's going to admit that time has changed you know this is murder in the modern times things are not ideal not even for capital cases and I think we have to kind of you know change the catechesis and have kind of different expectations I think sometimes to give the children like endued experiences to learn them basic you know players and Bible stories and everything and then really let them meet people that they can identify with you know young people and then when they they might come back to church later on in life actually just to give them good experiences with the church everyone in a parish when I was born in 1966 we were just about seven thousand Catholics in the whole of Norway in my parish we have fixed seats well my family is quite big family we had two roles in the church and every family had the although on bench so we knew who was not a church and we might also new know why because they would be away so I mean everyone knew and I've been I started catechesis and started school night - 73 they invented a new system the Canadian system into the catechesis classes in Norway before that it had been kind of Dutch German system and now the Canadian system came and then suddenly we had this huge immigration waves in 70's 80's 90's and then again in the 2005 six seven eight so when I was born we were just about 7000 Catholics know where we are just about 200 thousand now quit scroll why don't we take a pause there we'll come right back to our discussion we need to take a little bit break all right so stay with us back to the moment welcome back to this special episode of the journey home a roundtable that were taping here outside of nozzle Norway and our guests again are Cristina ding stud and father radar Voight and father secured mark Olson that's right Marcus I'm okay I said it right thank you all three of you in the first half we focused on the unique needs of catechesis here in Norway in many ways all of us around the world can relate to a lot of those same issues especially the one about the parents not able to you know help their children themselves was a huge span of catechesis as a challenge how are you meeting that challenge here in Norway are you meeting that general priest we're meeting it every day we try to through some struggle we try to reach out and manifest we are very successful to reach without in in my parish we handle about 8 percent of all children in school age are attending it to catechize classes but but still we have small distances compared with lots of other parishes in my previous parish in harrison middle between bergen Stavanger we had about well 50 40 50 percent of the children reaching over coming into Kent cases because the distance most difficult distance but also because of parents in just 10 minutes or culturalism yeah yeah at the same time I think it's important to say that even though there are many problems so we talked about them in the first part of this problem all the challenges still what we see is that people are happy to hear about the fate it's easier to talk about the fate today than it was maybe 10 or 15 years ago at least I feel it that way and what I see in my parish despite the distance is that I have about 250 300 kilometres to the parish border still I got about 60% of all the children attending catechesis and I run catechesis in three different places in my parish also in these small almost mission places where we have catechesis and we have mass and then for instance in the rukon which is 150 hundred sixty kilometers away from our parish church I have 15 children five who are going for confirmation now in towards the end of May and also in in my parish site poor school and I have about 90 children coming to get accuses so what we see is that if the catechesis is there if it's good parents will send their children and when they send their children they will also have some at least some drops of the catechesis themselves so I think the basic question is priority that our second most important priority is the catechesis the first priority is to Sunday Mass and then the catechesis comes and that's the way it has to be at least in our lifetime what about pulpit catechesis is that support is strongly here in the preaching that the problem is which language you know then because I know that a third of my parish doesn't understand a single word of what I'm saying but of course the discernment the preaching is important but it has to be straight well you know listen to the Pope I also have a kind of fund catechesis I discovered that lots of children they didn't know much about baptism and parents didn't know really much about what's happening after baptism and you in Baptism so I started celebrating baptism in the high mass but outside mass and I could you to continue that also in Tyre and also I am more but 95% of all baptisms happen in too high mass all the people in your I mean we don't have that luxury is it wait I always then invite all the children in the church present in church and this increasing number to get around the font and to see and help and join and after all also the services so on and then I explained all the rights all the symbols what are we doing and what second is all about and some of the parishioners have not heard it again and again again and slowly if you get in yeah I know they know about the symbolism they know what's happening and also when we have audit order sacrament celebrating we are well trying to involve the children and also the adults any kind of children by the godparents of the adults have said that when we preach to the children they gather more sometimes from their homeland it's not because they are loving intelligence but some sort of some of the adults have lost lots of catechesis they need to have it in any basic way and then they are turn to children as Jesus said well no I like your children it's more than just you know giving knowledge and the children and the youth they have to gather you know social and they have to you know learn to live there surgical life experience it's really really important and I think our situation in Norway there is quite unique because we have this quite good association for youth gap young Catholics in Norway and they're doing well among other things like summer camps and camps for Easter so children and youth from all over the country they come together you know to live a liturgical life and you know they play and they sing in everything like for one week and that's also Catholic uses isn't it well that's like they're building community yeah that's so important and you know what we have were quite lucky that we have vocations I mean especially for priesthood and quite many of our young men you know that's in seminaries today they have got their vocations from you know the campus and experiences and yeah and that's also Catholic Easy's yeah let's go there because that's an important issue behind vocations is the importance of catechesis what about those occasions here and I'm I think you did of course each vocation is individual in a sense but I think you can find some things in common with many of these vacations and one of the first is that I think most of us at least you and I as well we had a good what called his idols among the priests we had priests who have we can name priests who still are alive all of them basically who have been very important to us very good examples in a way of living the priestly life of course because our church is not that big also the the closeness was important that we knew these priests we could talk with him we could call them they could achieve us in the presbyteries and tell us about their life and so on but also what you mentioned the youth ministry or the Utah Association it's important to remember that vocation and catechesis day of quite linked they are almost the same innocence because what is the catechesis about it it is about to open your heart for our Lord to receive the grace of our Lord into your life and lived a life of fate and vocation is basically to answer to what water asks you and it's this yute apostolate is extremely important if you look at it if you had taken your camera crew to a youth camp you what you would probably have you would probably have seen that these youngsters are just like all other youngsters no difference there but the catechesis they receive true the truth amass through the pulpit if you want to true the catechesis hours true to being together is very consistent you might say maybe a bit conservative but still and but it's it's consistent and it's straight forward this is right this is wrong there's a sin this is a virtue and so on phone tone so there is no Cosi language but it's straight to to the line what is the fate and why and that is highly appreciated and also well yeah because the meaning is to both faith and belonging because it's important for us to to bring these young children to a church that they feel they're they belong to that it's not only the faith spoken but it's also something that they can relate to and I was youth minister for four years and going around telling it's okay to be Catholic in Norway today although you might be alone and it's okay to pray and I got quite good contact with lots of the young people who know our students and still call me or mail me and tell me that tomorrow I'm having an exam at university could you please that he can to say a prayer for me and I know from my background also my previous parish priest but I I grew up he told me when I told him that I was entering the same manner that he had prayed for me since I baptized me well I didn't know but he prayed for me every single day you must have a formation time in the seminary and for me sometimes I really thought about it and sometimes I forgot about it but at the end it was a very good thing to to know that actually he was really praying for me and I think that is also for those who are now entering the seminary saying yes to their vocation that they know that there are some that really prays for them and we are a very good group of younger younger that is from 15 50 years and please pray for the seminarians who pray for the youth pray for vocation also the bishop I'll be any change it on day of prayer every first Friday every month we are celebrating mass for vacations well you have an amazing statistic here in Norway of your vocations right yes did we mention it for the audience I mean I think it's an amazing thing make sure they know if you asked reason why do we have so many vacations I think it is maybe two things that are important first of all we talked about occasion I have told every single youngster I have a responsibility for as a youth minister or whatever at a camp or elsewhere that my goal is that when you know in the beginning of your twenties and you're going to decide what to do with your life please consider a vacation for priesthood or consecrated life together where that alive as a single or as a married please consider these four options equally and why can't you be a priest and then then normally they will tell it hey wait me yes exactly you think about it and then they start to reflect yes yes but I tell them all the time it is speak straightforward and mention also vocation and prayer it's not embarrassing it's living the fatal but also it's I think it's very important it was for me and I know it's for quite many young men that they see happy priests and drain it I'm so fed up it would be so much better without any prisoners the one you meet every Sunday practice for every week a master why should I why it's a mess everything if you see happy priest priest who can love together join how they some holiday together perhaps or will you see them happy you seem happy at the altar and you see them happy outside and mentioned to Walter because that's also important you have to say the mask you have to say let's celebrate the mass in a worthy and beautiful way because at least it you have it have to appear as if you believe in what you're doing that's that that's the the absolute minimum to put it that way be joking there because when you see priests who are saying the mass in an unworthy way a high mass with a sermon in a court over an hour they do they deserve any vocations do they deserve any followers of course not everyone understand that that's a he's a failure so what it is about is that yes when you look at our masses here in Norway you will see that the high marks at Sunday especially is celebrated in a very very solemn way and also I see when I'm saying the trenton master people are coming in and joined that as well I'm so also in with a Novus Ordo they in the parishes they are celebrated in a very very solemn and beautiful way and there you can you will see the fate alive and that together with a happy priest you know that is unbeatable because you have the experience here in Norway that it's it's true from the top down I mean a bishop has got to be the same way right now for his priests and for his people right now you mentioned the four vocations that you always encourage and Cristina Ural a woman I mean as you discerned your own vocation we've got people young women watching the statistic here in Norway is amazing right I mean a number of vocations per capita what is it is there's the largest team or maybe in the world if not just theory we have eight seminarians it's any numbers not big but for us being in such a small church in Norway but mostly men right what about the vocation to the religious life you know actually the sisters you know different congregations that actually build it at the Catholic Church in Norway so we have to thank them you know really the sisters for like the surroundings please well wonderful I have to really thank them but today there is not that many female vocations in our way but I mean it goes up and down so I don't think it's a kind of estranged we have to work a bit with those occasions well we have to encourage the girls because now you can see that the boys are becoming priests and they can at least follow you know days they are really looking for authenticity authenticity because I think the getting kind of more conservative you know they're really going back to the roots you know go back and I think female you know congregation you have to think about that because I mean young youngsters nowadays though want to wear like habits I mean it's kind of a simple you know simply start and are they going back to the traditions so maybe you know the apostolic especially female congregations need to kind of do some thinking around you know what appeals to young people today thank you something belonging yeah they need to feel that they belong and they just do something yeah but it is amazing in Norway I mean to see you know when we go to youth camps and that kind of things you know the youths bowing down for the Most Holy Sacrament I mean when you do the adoration why the users here they love adoration you know of the Most Holy Sacrament and they're singing and praying and it's much just amazing so we have a lot of opportunities but we have to you know do things once you can say well in my childhood we never had rosary I'd have summer camps or in parish akattak eight we never had benedictions I grew up many years without well I knew about two or three and no one taught me I never heard about benediction before I was at the age of 16 years old company I heard about it I never attended benediction before I well I was a junior at University Morgan I was 20 years old but now today it's well we are many priests who does it oh and of course the bishop I have encouraged all the parish to have been diction at least once a week I know what camps as a one we have this and the youth are really well they are questioning why I'm Walter I think it's important to mention there that we used these you summer camps and you various youth camps and weekend's very deliberately to introduce the youngsters into the traditional Catholic culture because many of them do live quite far away from church some might just have a small side Chapel somewhere and so on and we use these camps to establish an understanding of what Catholic culture is about and therefore they also introduced to benedictions and so but they also require it I never forget one youngster complained to me that Oh father you are the most lazy stupid idiot on earth no excuse me why do you say that well it's you sort n't to adoration it was just one and a half hours and then only fine thank you you're right I am stupid idiot next time we will do two hours Thank You Fabio quite cool though just flowering here in Norway every time I hear it I think of John Paul the second and a morning to a certain extent was it was he the inspiration but even adoration and benediction in the rosary all of that or a big part of what he was encouraging wherever he went sedate it was he behind a lot of the good thing are happening in Norway also not to forget that this sort of radical purification of the the Catholicism that came in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council didn't strive strike us that hard so quite many things are also preserved and and what it is about is that life needs symbols life needs a sort of a practice you can't just make the Fate to an intellectual training that is not fate that is to destroy the faith and that has happened many places what you see here is a quite traditional faith in a modern form or in a model in a modern society and it striving is flowering and I think that that should be a sort of a wake-up for many people yeah many country that is drug money it reminds me of the bulbs underground right yeah and then in the spring you steep this flowering it's been there all along yes now you're seeing this flower let's say that we've got some viewers any words of encouragement to them in terms of the need their need for themselves in catechesis and as well as discerning their vocational Paul they seek Lord in prayer aids never stop praying I think praying active prayer life leads to and closer nearness to God and also more an open heart to the gospel and I think if you stop pray if it's hard to find God and I agree totally and just to say if you then ask how to pray if you don't know it then I will just recommend the book of a Roman Agora Dini the through the school the introduction to prayer which is just great or even also the book of our present Pope Cardinal brother Joseph Ratzinger Jesus from Nazareth it's also really good so prayer and knowledge that is what is needed you have to know why you believe what you believe and how to practice it and that means to pray and then also see you at Sunday in church that's what you do that's what I was going to say you know algo Tomas that's really really important because sometimes you know life you know everyday life it's BC and you don't have time to pray and my post is everywhere else but as soon as I go to church you know my thoughts are gathered around the sacrament and it helps me it's a really puttin Kovach way it sits I like pedagogic you know things from God actually so it's a go to church graces slogan and a huge Association see you at Sunday yeah in Mass of course what's been intended and I think it's it's a good one to see you at Sunday well thank you all very much thank you your information but your wonderful dialogue and I appreciate it so much and what her father at markeson or if you could close us with a benediction another blessing the Lord we read you and also is you Almighty God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit bless you and we read you all this you've given us a lot of information to pray for but also a lot of hope and I watch what you're experiencing here is it I think an amazing work of grace and thank all three of you for what you're doing in obedience of your vocations and as being a channels of grace to those that God has brought into your life thank all three of you very privileged and thank you for joining us on this special roundtable edition of the journey home from Oslo in Norway I I do pray that this has been an encouragement to you every one of us we've got to keep growing in our faith as it says in Scripture we need to be able to give a reason for the hope those in us and that's what we're called to do in our obedience to Jesus Christ god bless you si against you

Channel: EWTN

Views: 5,504

Rating: 4.7948718 out of 5

Keywords: EWTN, Journey Home, Scandinavia, Marcus Grodi, Catholic

Id: re612YPBsxU

Length: 52min 0sec (3120 seconds)

Published: Wed May 19 2010